


Liar, Liar, Liar

by little_abyss



Series: Sadness Appreciation Society Works [1]
Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Break Up, Complicated Relationships, Declarations Of Love, F/F, F/M, Hurt No Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Lies, Love Confessions, M/M, Pining, Pre-Relationship, Relationship(s), Temporarily Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-31
Updated: 2017-08-31
Packaged: 2018-12-21 23:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11955072
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/little_abyss/pseuds/little_abyss
Summary: Three short pieces based around the prompt 'a small lie' for theSadness Appreciation Society'sweekly prompt challenge. The ships here explored are Dorian x Iron Bull, F!Inquisitor x Blackwall, and Sera x Dagna.





	Liar, Liar, Liar

Dorian laughs, brittle in the half-dark, the guttering candlelight shining on his skin.  “Liar,” he tells Bull, and looks away.

 

That, in itself, is a lie; Bull knows it, and he knows that Dorian knows it too.  He can feel the words, in his chest, his throat, and he wants to speak, to challenge Dorian.  They’ve loved each other for a long time now, Bull is fairly sure of that.  It’s not in any words; it’s in action, in deed.  But in the time they’ve been together, he’s never known Dorian to respond well to being pushed; so instead, he takes a deep breath and sighs.  It hurts.  Hurts to have the truth thrown back in his face in such a cavalier fashion -- though, Bull supposes, in Dorian’s case, it’s defense.

 

So instead, he smiles.  “You don’t wanna believe me, that’s your business.  But I’m tellin’ you, Dorian -- I love you.  It’s okay if you’re not ready.”

 

That’s a lie.  He wants Dorian to be ready  _ now _ .  Who knows how much time they have?   _ There’s never enough _ , Bull thinks, and smiles wider.

 

* * *

 

“Liar,” she tells him, and swipes at her eyes.

“No,” he says, pleading, hating himself.  “I… I know it’s not really my name, but…”

“No,” she says, and the hand which had wiped her tears away now slashes through the air in an angry gesture.  “It's not just that.  You... your whole... being.  You're... not even _real_.  You exist in a  _ fantasy _ .  You lied about your name, you lied about everything; why wouldn’t you lie about this?”

 

Silence falls between them.  He swallows into it; it seems to enter him, a cold feeling, here in his chest.  “I never meant it to get so big,” he tells her quietly, and puts one hand on the bars between them.  “And I never meant to hurt you.  It… it was a wish, but you have to… please, please understand, all I wanted was a new life.  And I lied for it, I know that I did… but I thought I could do so much good… and… and...”  He tapers off, holding the bars of his cell tightly.  All the world is gone; there is only the Inquisitor, her eyes, that hurt gaze, the hatred in them.  “Please.  I  _ do _ love you _ , _ ” he tells her desperately, his voice a whisper.

 

“Liar,” she whispers in return, the word as hard and devoid of emotion as she can make it.  They stare at each other for what feels like a long time.  Then she turns on her heel and strides away -- he hears the Inquisitor’s steps on the stone, the flat slap of her boots; the creak of the heavy door at the head of the stairs… and then it slams shut, plunging the cells once more into darkness.

 

* * *

 

“Huh,” she narrows her eyes at the dwarf, then sniffs.  “Liar.  You can just tell me if you are, you know.”

“I’m not… it’s not.  Not a lie, I mean,” Dagna says, smiling.  The smile is worried though, and Sera lifts her chin.  

“I promise,” Dagna continues, “I’m not lying.  I wouldn’t.  Not to you.”

Sera sneers.  “Nugshit.  Everyone gets scared.  And anyway -- you either wouldn’t lie, or you wouldn’t lie  _ to me _ .  How’m I s’posed to know which it is?” She shrugs, “Everyone lies, Widdle.”

Dagna sucks in a breath and holds it while Sera watches her face carefully.  It’s not hard - although most of the Undercroft is dark, Dagna is standing in a shaft of sunlight.  It’s the only light in the place, and it turns her hair all firey and gorgeous with colour.  Sera smiles a little at the sight.

Finally, Dagna cocks her head and exhales, her breath blooming in the fridgid air.   “Yeah,” she breathes, “Okay.  I guess I  _ am _ scared.  But not of you.  I’m scared of… of this.”  She smiles up at Sera and shrugs.  “Love isn’t something you can account for with numbers.  Love isn’t something which is  _ testable _ , is… I don’t know.  I’m used to being able to proving stuff, yeah?  Like… with an explosion, you can test smaller examples of it, and you can anticipate variables and all sorts of things.  But… with this…”  That small smile is back; Dagna bites her lip and looks worried.  “There’s no test.  This  _ is _ the test.  And… and I guess I’m scared because… I don’t wanna fuck this up.  This is not a replicable method.”  She bows her head.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t wanna… you know.  I just…”

 

“Panicked?” Sera grins, and squats suddenly.  Her knee clicks and she grins harder, in spite of the nervous tingle in the pit of her stomach, in spite of the way Dagna still won’t meet her eyes.   _ She... loves me _ ? she thinks, and feels her throat tighten.  “You tryin’ to tell me something, Widdle?”

“Yeah.  I guess,” Dagna whispers, and looks up suddenly, “But… not now, alright?  I… I gotta get my head right first.”  She pauses, then bites her lip again.  “I’m sorry.”

“S’alright,” Sera smiles, though something in her winces.  She rises again, more slowly, and says, “You know where to find me, right?”

Dagna nods, and Sera beams at her.  No smile has ever felt more false, but she does it anyway, then turns and marches away from the woman standing in the shaft of lonely sunlight.

**Author's Note:**

> The [Sadness Appreciation Society](https://discord.gg/janD86G) is dead; long live the [Sadness Appreciation Society](https://discord.gg/janD86G).


End file.
